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Don't screw over Weber

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Everything is peachy now, all are happy: students, administrators - outside of the drug inferences on signs and nude blow-up women being hit around like a beach ball at Lollapalooza - handling then-No. 17 Creighton 70-62 as fans cheered at an amplitude that has not been reached since Benito Mussolini was dragged behind a cart across the streets of Italy.

Kent Williams is back to his old blue-collar self and is as gritty as ever. Jermaine Dearman is stupefying opposing post players with his weaponry of up-fakes and hypnotism caused by swinging braids.

But think back to winter break when the Salukis were just 5-3 overall after losing to St. Louis 71-60. Washington Wizards guard Larry Hughes left the Billikens for the NBA back in 1998, so SLU had no reason to be in the same league as the Dawgs.

That is almost as incredulous as people comparing Kyle Korver to the likes of Larry Bird. Gandhi is more comparable to Lucifer than Korver to Bird. Puke.

What is even more difficult to fathom is the fact SIU, who ranks second in the MVC with a scoring average of 75.3, was able to net only 13 points in the first half. Standout 9-year-old girls basketball players score that alone in the first half of their third grade tournaments.

The season appeared gloomy like my hope for any intimate dating relationships in the near future.

So where did this turnaround spawn from?

Simple. With SIU head coach Bruce Weber.

His players could have easily quit, but they showed more guts than the Sunken Road at Antietam. And following up a year like last season is an arduous task to accomplish.

Everyone, including media folks, are always going to compare this season's squad to the Sweet 16 team, but they are different and hemorrhoids are the only thing more irritating in life than trying to answer practically rhetorical questions.

Weber kept the players at bay. After the loss to SLU, the NIT probably appeared to be a welcomed thought.

Now seeing Rosie O'Donnell in an open-bust teddy is more appealing than the concept of competing in the Big Apple during mid-March.

"I don't want to go the NIT, man. That is a tournament for losers," Dearman said in a state of fear induced by the thought. "It is cool, but I don't want to be the team that just missed the boat. I have already been to the NIT my freshman year.

"I have seen it, it is a nice tournament. It was fun to be there, but I don't want to go back."

After losing 85-76 to Creighton in the first showdown on Jan. 18 and becoming the low man in the 40-to-8 foul disparity, it was all too easy to point the finger at officials. I foamed out the mouth, but the team didn't whisper a complaint. They restrained and went back to work at practice.

Oh, and MTV is following around our basketball team, as if that is not a big distraction. Weber's players could have gotten over-excited in front of a camera and not taken practices nearly as serious, but they did.

If they did, they could be sure that it would provoke Weber, something that is an uncomfortable sight.

When he swears, it is weird. Voices like Weber's were not created to shout profane words. His players now that and they respect that.

He commands respect and a 5-3 start was disrespect in his eyes. Since then, the Dawgs are 18-2. They are conference champions and are making a strong case for another NCAA tournament berth along with a strong showing once they get there.

In a season where Coach of the Year candidates are plentiful with Dana Altman leading Creighton to the limelight of national exposure and not folding, and Barry Hinson's fix-a-flat job with Southwest Missouri State to save their season and his job, Weber has risen above the rest.

Media members are often times fickle and biased, but if Weber does not receive Coach of the Year for the job he has done, it would be a dubious honor given to the man in place of Weber.

Because of Weber everyone in the nation, basketball goers at least, realize what the hell a Saluki is.

Zack Creglow is a freshman in journalism. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Egyptian.